The boys behind London-based restaurant Bodean's know good barbecue food, and they know its home is Kansas City.

It may not be well known outside of the USA, but Kansas City is arguably the country’s capital for barbecue food.

It was this style of cooking that inspired a trio of Londoners to fill a gap in the British market.

Founder of Bodean’s, Andre Blais, 50 and originally from Canada, said: “The closest thing the UK had to American food in the late nineties and early 00s was TGI Friday’s.”

So Soho: The first of a number of Bodean's restaurants launched in London (Image: Bodean's)

Nowadays Brits can binge in a number of barbecue restaurants, but according to Andre it was Bodean’s that kicked off this trend.

In his dream to bring KC-style food to the UK, Andre, along with Bodean’s chief designer Quentin Reynolds and executive chef Richard Coates, gobbled and guzzled their way through the city he calls “the spiritual home of barbecue”.

I was invited to join them as they relived this gut-busting eight-stop pilgrimage, so loosened my belt and hopped on the first plane to Kansas City.

Must eat: The Z-man Sandwich - sliced smoked brisket, smoked provolone cheese, a couple of onion rings and barbecue sauce, served on a Kaiser roll

Legendary: The Z-Man sandwich is a wonderful creation

BBQ Rating: 9/10

2. Smokin’ Guns BBQ & Catering, Missouri

Smokin' Guns: Giving us a lesson in how to make an entrance

Next up is Smokin’ Guns, located in North Kansas City. It’s a 50-seat restaurant run by Phil and Linda Hopkins, also competition barbecuers who gave up their full time jobs to bring the championship food they cook to the public.

And it looks the part, we’re welcomed at the entrance by two 6-foot plastic revolvers and the thick smell of smokers cooking chicken wings from the back.

It’s a bustling restaurant and the kitchens are frantically busy too. I notice everyone is wearing branded Smokin’ Guns t-shirts before Phil introduces himself to the party and offers us a tour.

“I still come in every morning and oversee everything” he says, casually strolling through the kitchen with a good ten of us following him.

"When we first opened it was lunch only because this is an industrial area, but it’s kind of evolved from that and got a little bit bigger”, he chuckles. And there’s reason to smile, the restaurant is absolutely packed.

We cram into his smoke pit where Andre, Richard and Quentin begin quizzing him on his cooking techniques.

Smoke pit: Phil Hopkins shows off his chicken wings

He burns his own blend of pellets using a mix of oak, hickory and cherry.

The smell is incredible, especially as he opens his smokers to show off dozens of rotating baby back ribs and hundreds of chicken wings.

Must eat: The Crown Prime Lunch - a beef short rib smoked until fork-tender

BBQ Rating: 7/10

4. Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue, Missouri

Arthur Bryant's: A legendary spot for KC barbecue

Arthur Bryant’s is a no-frills back to basics barbecue joint. It was founded in 1908, and over the years it’s kept its unpretentious charm that has kept diners heading here since the early 20th century.

Those were the days when slabs of meat were sold for 25 cents from a trolley barn.

There are even old beaten up Christmas decorations in the window in late January.

It’s all bizarrely appealing, and fits well with its plastic tables and chairs, fluorescent lighting and bespoke vintage clock.

What I notice most of all however is the shrine to Barack Obama, made up of between ten or twenty framed photos from when the incumbent president visited in 2014, ordering half a slab of ribs, a Bud light, water and fries.

We order what’s starting to feel like our ‘usual’, a whole slab of ribs, beef, pulled pork, sausage, turkey and burnt ends. Interestingly everything gets served on slabs of white bread.

Must eat: The pulled pork sandwich was a real winner

BBQ Rating: 7/10

5. Danny Edwards Boulevard BBQ, Missouri

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This place is great. The Bodean’s crew had visited owner and executive chef Danny Edwards back on their 2002 tour, but he’d since moved to a new location and changed its name from Lil’ Jakes after city developers forced him out of his famous downtown Kansas City spot.

He did keep one particular decoration outside though - a concrete pig!

Inside nostalgic signs and pictures remain plastered on the wall, and there’s a real American diner feel.

Andre asks how he applies his cooking talents to his rubs and sauces, to which he replies: “We started going crazy on stuff, chili powders, nutmeg and a bunch of other things you probably wouldn’t think about - there’s 30-something things in our rubs!”

He laughs as he tells us he came up with a lot of his concepts whilst drinking beer, including using raspberry and vinegar in his barbecue sauce.